1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a folding trap, in particular a trap for trapping marine creatures, such as crabs, lobsters, relatively large fish, etc.
2. Prior Art
Marine creature traps have been used for a long time and early traps were commonly a rigid space frame structure having enclosing walls of a net- or grid-like material with an opening therein which permitted a creature to enter the trap and to hinder the creature from leaving the trap. Whilst such traps have been satisfactory in many applications, when used in large quantities on commercial fishing vessels, storage of the rigid traps becomes a problem.
To reduce storage problems of rigid traps, folding traps have been devised, one such trap being shown in Canadian Pat. No. 971,751 issued on July 29, 1975 to George Gerbrandt. This patent discloses a plurality of U-shaped frame portions hinged to a central boss so that when the frame portions are extended, a generally rectangular space enclosed by the net is formed. The smaller sizes of this trap are relatively easy to erect manually, but the larger sizes, for example up to 3 meters in length, present difficulty when erecting the trap manually, particularly in the restricted space commonly found on a commercial fishing vessel. Also, manual erection of folding traps is made more difficult on a pitching vessel in heavy seas, particularly when the traps are coated with seaweed, algae, etc. from a previous immersion.
Also, when folded, because this type of trap is not symmetrical, it tends to assume a shallow wedge-like shape. Unless particular care is taken when stacking the folded traps of this type, the stacks of folded traps can become unstable and topple onto the deck, or into the sea, sometimes resulting in loss of the traps.